Keanu Reeves Has Reportedly Been Blacklisted By Streaming Platforms In China & Here's Why
So many of his films have been deleted.
Keanu Reeves at the TCL Chinese Theater IMAX in Los Angeles in 2019.
Major streaming services in China have gone on a Keanu Reeves purge, stripping their platforms of any titles related to the Matrix star — in a move even the Oracle couldn't see coming.
The Los Angeles Times reports that last Monday, China's main streaming services, including Migu Video, iQiyi, and Tencent Video, removed the "vast majority" of content relating to Reeves from their sites.
The Toronto-raised actor, best-known for his roles in The Matrix movies and John Wick, participated in the Tibet House US Annual Benefit Concert on March 3. According to the Los Angeles Times, the actor received backlash from Chinese nationalists back in January when they caught wind of his plan to attend. Some promised to boycott the actor's newly released film The Matrix: Resurrections over his show of support for Tibet — but he went anyway.
There has been long-standing tension between China and Tibet over its independence, and the Tibet House US Annual Benefit Concert celebrates the Tibetan New Year with proceeds supporting the non-profit's goal of ensuring a "unique Tibetan civilization."
Despite the uproar caused by Reeves' attendance, it seems his show of support resulted in a rather delayed reaction, with his titles being stripped from platforms weeks later.
However, it remains unclear who ordered the purge, China’s regulatory agencies, or the platforms themselves.
No search results come up for "Keanu Reeves" on iQiyi, and the Los Angeles Times reports a minimum of 19 of Reeves' movies were deleted from the Tencent Video platform. Furthermore, all of his films, with the exception of Toy Story 4, were deleted from Migu Video and Youku.
Some of Reeves's films were also removed from Xigua Video and Bilibili, according to Los Angeles Times.
Narcity reached out to the streaming services mentioned above and Reeves for comment but did not hear back in time for publication.
This article's cover image was used for illustrative purposes only.